An Alternative to Strawberries: Prequel to Fear
by NCISVILLE
Summary: Follows IM2 story line but instead of Pepper interrupting Tony during the strawberries scene he gets to tell her whats on his mind then some different dialogue between scenes. Really you just need to read it to understand completely. This is a prequel to another story i will be doing called Fear.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys so haha yeah, im back again. I'm sorry if im overloading this site with stories. Also i started doing a separate story and realized that this one and that co-inside with each other so this has become a prequel. This basically follows the movie plot line but is different in the aspect of Pepper doesn't interrupt Tony when he's talking in the scene where he brings her strawberries. Also, lot more dialogue and explanation in between scenes. Thank you to those of you who have put me on alert and Favorited me and to those of you who review for my stories. I hope you enjoy reading this prequel and i will try and update as soon as possible.**

An Alternative to Strawberries

Disclaimer: So I finally realized I've been so eager to just put all my stories out there that I totally forgot about the disclaimer but I mean come on, I definitely have no association with both Shane Black and Jon Favreau not to mention the comic books. So all of my stories are my own and I so will never own the franchise. I do however own the movies, booyakah son.

"Ms. Potts." Said the secretary entering her office in the middle of an important phone call Pepper was making.

"Relax." Said a faint familiar voice that hadn't quite come into Pepper's view yet.

"Mr. Stark."

"Sure." Tony said interrupting the woman again.

"Refuses-"

"I don't." Tony said once more interrupting her and walking into Pepper's office, that had once been his, carrying a box of strawberries. "I'll only be a second." Tony told the persistent woman. Pepper held up a finger telling them to wait and returned her focus to the phone call. She didn't want to talk to Tony, she was furious with him.

"Listen it's our position-"

"Thank you, Mandi is it?" Tony said to the fleeting secretary.

"- That Stark has and continues to maintain proprietary ownership of the Mark II platform." Pepper said drumming her fingers on the desk annoyed and briefly glanced at Tony before turning her attention to the T.V. that was on. Bill O' Reilly's face was blowing up the screen.

"_When Mr. Stark announced he was Iron Man he promised America-"_

"No, the suit belongs to us" Pepper said frustratedly into the phone receiver yet still fixed on what the T.V was spitting out.

"_We trusted he would look out for us. Obviously he did not."_ Bill announced.

"Yes but you're not, Bert yes it does!" Pepper protested.

"_And now we learn that his secretary, a woman named Virginia 'Pepper' Potts-"_ Pepper turned back to the T.V, still drumming her fingers in annoyance, to see just what this clown would say about her. "_Has been appointed the CEO of Stark Industries."_

Tony looked at Pepper, his stare affectionate and resolved. He was going to tell her, he couldn't live like this anymore, not without reaping the consequences of not telling her. He had nightmares that kept him awake up till the wee hours of the morning and granted him no more than three hours of sleep a night. Not having phone privileges to hear her voice or see her made him anxious and sad. He felt empty without her witty banter or her caring with him every day like how it used to be.

"_What are her qualifications?!" _Bill said skeptically.

"No." Pepper said adamantly into the phone.

"_Ms. Potts is doing nothing to manage the situation!"_ he continued to rant.

"Mute." Tony said before this clown could insult his rock.

"No!" Pepper said again only with more fervor. "Bert, Bert, Bert, listen to me." Tony sighed taking his eyes off the T.V and walked to the corner of the room stacked with boxes of his stuff. Tony opened his mouth to speak and pointed to her but changed his mind and continued in his previous direction. "Don't tell me we have the best patent lawyers and not let me pursue this." She said seemingly more frustrated than before.

Tony began flipping through the boxes and said, "I'll get this stuff out of here." Motioning with a twirl of his fingers, to the things around him.

Pepper threw up a hand exasperated and said," Well then tell the president to sign an order." Pepper looked at Tony and was reminded once more as he pulled off a tarp, of the pain he had caused her. "We'll talk about it at the expo. Hammer's giving some sort of presentation tomorrow evening." Un- interested in the thing any longer, Tony began making his way over to Pepper's desk. "Will Tony Stark be there?" She repeated looking at him once more and feeling the deep seated hurt and anger but even deeper love.

"Will I?" Tony asked curiously pulling up a chair to sit in.

"No he will not." She answered cold and solemnly.

"I would like to be." Tony said.

"Bye." Pepper said grateful that the call had finally ended. "No." She answered as Tony was in the process of sitting and asking,

"Got a minute? Come on you just got off the phone, you're fine. Thirty seconds." Pepper looked at him scrutinizingly trying to decide if she should allow him thirty seconds.

Deciding that what he might say could be helpful she looked to her watch and began counting down. "Twenty-nine."

"Okay I um-"

"Twenty-eight." She said still looking at her watch.

Tony shifted in his chair and sat up. "I was just driving over here and I thought I was coming to apologize but I'm not-" he said stumbling through unable to make eye contact.

Pepper angrily shifted her eyes and said, "Oh so you didn't come here to apologize?" She asked folding her hands in her lap, leaning back in her chair.

"That goes without saying and I'm working on that." He said with sincere eyes. "But I haven't been entirely…upfront…with you and I just want to make good, can I move this?" He asked unable to hide his displeasure any longer with the thing obstructing his view. "This, this is crazy it's like a Ferris wheel."

"No." Pepper said staring at him with a look that said she clearly wasn't in the mood to see him and that he had better get to the point of his visit. Tony cleared his throat and pushed the chair to the other side of her desk.

"Do you know how short life is? And if I never got to express, and by the way this is somewhat revelatory to me." He said his eyes downcast, his heart racing, as he neared toward the bombshell he was about to place in her hands. "and I don't care, I mean I care, it'd be nice but im not expecting you to, look here's what im trying to say, and im just gonna say it."

Pepper was going to interrupt him but bit her tongue knowing he was almost to the punch line. Tony met Pepper's eyes hesitantly and said with sadness in his eyes, "I'm dying…Pepper." He said pausing.

Pepper's once angry demeanor transformed into that of shock and un-comprehension. The only thing she could manage to say without tears was, "How long?"

"Two days. The least. Three the max." Tony said sadly trying to read her blank face.

"H..how..what? I…I…I don't understand." She said shaking her head refusing to coexist with the terms dying and Tony.

"The arc reactor, the palladium in it that's keeping me alive is also poisoning my blood and killing me. I'm up to 93% blood toxicity."

"But…how long have you known about this?" She asked wanting to burst into tears and collapse in his arms and apologize for everything and never let him go.

"Two months, give or take a week."

"How could you keep this from me?" She asked trying not to let the hurt she felt become evident in her voice, but Tony knew her well enough to where he picked it out as an underlying tone.

"I…I just…I didn't want everyone, especially you to treat me differently."

"So you'd rather me be angry at you for being a self-destructive jack ass as opposed to me being able to justify the action and forgive you?"

"Yes but at least you wouldn't treat me like a _dying _jack ass." He said. "Listen, Pepper." He said reaching over her desk and taking her hand. "You're the only person I've told and I-"

"Why'd you choose to tell me?" she asked weakly.

"Tony wasn't sure if he should tell her but decided he had already kept the truth from her once and wouldn't do it again. "I haven't been able to sleep. I keep having these nightmares and I just…I couldn't deal with it anymore."

Pepper's heart fluttered a little and she cast her eyes down and they were drawn to the strawberries. "Did you bring me strawberries? Did you know that there's only one thing that I'm-"

"Allergic to." They said together.

"Is strawberries." Tony said looking down to the red fruit and storing that factoid should he have a future to need to remember it for. "mmhhm. This is progress Pepper, I knew there was some correlation between you and this." He said with a small smile.

Pepper returned the small smile and said with as much emotion as she felt, "I need you Tony."

"I need you too Pepper." He said softly.

They began gravitating toward each other but as the sound of the door interrupted them along with Natalie's voice saying, "Ms. Potts."

They quickly drifted feet apart and Pepper cleared her throat and said perkily," Hi…com…come on in."

"Wheels up in twenty five minutes." Natalie said walking up to her with a blue folder.

"Wait, wheels up? Where are you going?"

"Actually Natalie I think im going to cancel the trip to the expo."

"What?" Tony asked taken aback. "Why would you do that?" He asked not understanding.

"For you. I would do that for you." Pepper said defensively upset with the idea that he actually wanted her to still leave. "Natalie, can you give Mr. Stark and I a minute to talk in private please."

"Of course." Natalie said ushering Happy out as well.

As soon as the doors were closed Tony pounced and said, "You need to go."

"No! How could you even suggest that? I'm not leaving you! I don't want to." She said closing the three feet they had managed to put between them.

"Pepper, you have to go to the expo. I need someone I can trust there to watch Hammer."

"The presentation isn't until tomorrow night Tony. I'm staying."

"Only if you promise to go at the last minute."

"To which I'll only say yes if you promise to call me if things start going downhill so I can be here with you."

"There may be a snag with that request. Agent Coulson has kept me trapped in my house, no outside contact allowed if you catch my drift. He's on babysitting duty while S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury makes me look for a new element to replace the palladium and keep me alive."

"So if you find this element within two days, you'll live?" Pepper asked as hope began to return and crank up to full blast.

"_If,_ I find the element." Tony corrected trying not to give her false hope. Pepper hugged him and squeezed him tight. "I'm not out of the woods yet Pepper." He said still remaining objective but wrapping his arms around her all the same.

"I'll drive you home." She said reaching into his jacket pocket and grabbing out his keys. "Oh and throw out those strawberries." She said wrinkling her nose disgustedly as she looked at them sitting on her desk.

He grabbed the box of berries and walked over to the tiny can, tossing them in the bin and scattering most of them across the floor. He smiled sheepishly and picked up one taking a bite of it looking back to the tarp covered thing before beginning to walk away. He stopped and walked back immediately turning around as his brain finally comprehended what his eyes had seen. It was the same, 'key to the future' city he had seen on his dad's expo tapes.

Pepper observed how fixated he had become on the thing and watched as the wheels tuned in his mind, neurons firing a million miles a second. Tony's mouth opened a little as he ripped off the rest of the tarp to the project his father created. He formed a little kaleidoscope with his hand eying the center sphere that looked like a globe. He blinked a couple of times staring at it still unable to quite believe what he was seeing. His lips began to form into a small smile and he swallowed it back not wanting to get carried away.

Pepper couldn't handle the not knowing anymore and asked him what was going on. "Tony, what's going on? What are you thinking?"

"Can this be taken apart?" he asked pointing to the city.

"Why?"

"I think I may have found where my miracle cure is." he said still trying to process the information himself.

"What?" Pepper nearly shrieked as she became excited. She half ran to the city and immediately helped in trying to collapse the model. They broke it into four pieces and recruited Happy to help bring the pieces to his car. Tony took two and Happy took two. Pepper was trying to contain the relief she felt flooding through her body. She kept reminding herself Tony wasn't safe yet. As Tony sped home she followed him in the Bentley with Happy.

**Thanks guys for reading. Please leave me a review to tell me what you think of it so far and in the next chapter of this prequel, there is some major Pepperony going on. I don't want to spoil too much but there may or may not be a meeting of lips. ;). See ya round guys.**


	2. A Single Kiss

**Hello all, thank you all so much for the reiviews and i wasn't able to respond to one of you so i'll do it now.**

**XBlueXCandyX- Thank you but i don't think Marvel would be willing to accept something form someone who is only sixteen now. lol. I'm sure Robert would read it but i don't think he would want to change the scene. Thanks for the review.**

**Alrighty now addressed to everyone, thank you for reading it and if you aren't reading The Magnificent Octopus by LouBlue, you really should and dont say oh well its already sixty chapters long its too late for me to get caught up, i read all of it in about a week and a half and now im all caught up, it's awesome. lol now thanks for all the alerts and favorites for not only this story but me as well. Venture on readers and please enjoy this next chapter.**

Chapter Two: A Single Kiss

Pepper insisted on staying with Tony and promised she would stay out of his way. She watched with curiosity as he reassembled the city and began talking to JARVIS.

"JARVIS could you kindly Vac-U-form a digital wire frame? I need a manipulatable projection." Tony began snap clapping his hands together while he waited for the projection and glanced towards Pepper who looked lost and captivated in her thoughts.

"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete sir." JARVIS announced.

Tony lifted the digital scan off the original and turned around placing it behind him. "Uh how many buildings are there?"

"Am I to include the Belgium waffle stands?"

"Uh it was rhetorical, just show me." He said setting it down and pushing it down a little. Tony snapped his fingers and spun it clock wise as he walked counter to his rolly ergonomic chair. "Uh huh, uh." He said sitting down and beginning to roll over to the digitalized model as it turned itself up vertically. "What does that look like to you JARVIS?" he asked the Al staring at the thing that had first caught his attention and still sent his mind flying a thousand miles a minutes. "Not unlike an atom. In which case the nucleus would be here." He said observing it then placing his finger on the nucleus. "Highlight the unisphere." Tony drew a circle around the sphere with his fingers and clapped his hands together and spread them out enlarging the ball. Tony looked at the center questioningly. "Lose the footpaths." He said as an idea began to form. "Get rid of them." He said swiping it with his hand.

"What are you trying to accomplish sir?" JARVIS asked curiously

"I'm discovering, uh correction, I'm re discovering-"he said placing his hands on his face to think, "a new element. I believe." He continued to stroke the hair on his face as he continued to stare at the nucleus of the element that was now sure to save his life. "Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, trees, parking lots, exits, entrances." He said flicking away the highlighted things said and stripping the element down to its core. "Structure of the protons and neutrons using the pavilions as the framework. Dad." The computer changed with his words and as he enlarged the stripped down core even more he stared at it willing for it to tell him the answer to the riddle of his heart he was trying to solve. Tony wiped his hand over his face exasperatedly as the nucleus began to look more like an electron cloud. Then he saw it, it was staring him right in the face. He clapped his hands on his thighs and spread his hands up above his head blowing up the image so he was swimming in the middle of it. He lowered his hands looking around him in awe. He spun around looking, thinking, _not bad dad._ "Dead for almost twenty years, still taking me to school." He continued spinning and eventually he couldn't contain the smile he had been holding in. Tony laughed a little feeling all the pressure that had been pressing onto his shoulders suddenly disappear. He clapped the element back down and looked at it in between his thumb and forefinger.

"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium."

"Thanks dad." Tony said softly.

"Un fortunately it's impossible to synthesize."

"uh huh." He responded. Tony looked up and saw Dummy and smiled at him finally getting up from his chair. "Get ready for a major remodel fellas, we're back in hardware mode." He shouted over his shoulder barely walking three feet before Pepper attacked him with a hug sobbing and laughing deliriously. Tony laughed and smiled genuinely for the first time in months as he held her close.

He had done it. He would live to see another day and Pepper couldn't be any happier. "Tony…" she said looking into his eyes. "You did it, you found it." She said burying her face deeper into his chest feeling the soft hum of the arc reactor on her skin. Tony held her close and willed himself not to just reach down and take her face in his hands and kiss her, to let her know how much he needed her with him, not just working for or above him but physically living right beside him, sharing the air he breathed. He wanted someone to come home to after a mission that would worry about him and tell him that he was loved, and the only face that he could picture that happening with, was Pepper.

He rubbed her back in small comforting circles knowing it was very un Tony of him and thought of the letter he had begun writing for her in the event that he wouldn't make it. It was hidden in his desk but the only word he could manage to write for the longest time, for reasons he could not explain, was her name, Pepper. He was brought back from his thoughts by the seeping wet feeling on his skin. He looked down confused and saw Pepper silently crying into his shirt.

"Pepper? What's wrong? I'm not gonna be forced to leave. I found the element Pep." Pepper continued to sob relentlessly into his shirt squeezing him as though if she let go she'd lose him forever. Not knowing what to do in this unknown territory, tony simply held her and rubbed her back. That's when he knew he couldn't not let her know how he felt about her. "Pepper." He said softly using his finger to lift her chin up to meet her eyes with his. As she met his eyes he whispered her name once more. "Pepper. I'll never leave you. I'll always be with you Pep."

Pepper choked back her remaining sobs as she met his eyes. They were glowing a warm brown and it was the caring, sincere look he had in his eyes that mad her brain stop and her heart go into overdrive. His words touched her and made her heart skip a beat but before she could get her heart back under control Tony had begun leaning down toward her. His hand encased the side of her face, and the look he gave her before he closed the remaining space between them, was more than any amount of words could ever convey. After knowing him for ten years she had been able to read his mind and in that moment Pepper could see what he was saying, '_I want this Pepper. I want you. I can't hold up this façade any more. You're what I need, you aren't like anyone else I've met. That's why I took so long, because you're not like anyone else I've met. You're exactly what I need because I can't be me without you.'_ As his lips finally met hers she couldn't help but not feel the deep seated longing portrayed and the full raw emotion behind his kiss. His lips felt warm and comforting and in that single moment she felt something she hadn't in a long time, safe and wanted. As she felt Tony slowly pull back she smiled and rest her forehead against his and her hands on his biceps. Tony felt himself smile and he again placed his hand on her check.

"I have to get back to work Pepper." He said softly.

"I know."

"So I can create the element to-"he said and it sounded to Pepper like he was trying to convince himself he had to do this.

"I know." She said again with a smile.

"save my life. I promise this isn't like-"

"I know."

"every other time. I do want this Pepper. I do want us and that kiss-"

"Tony!" she said shaking him a little. "I know." She said with a smile.

"What? Why'd you let me keep rambling?"

"Because you look incredibly cute when you're flustered and I did try and stop you, three times." She said with an understanding smile. Tony scrunched his nose and squinted but instead of replying he dipped his head again and met her lips in a much slower kiss that neither wanted to end but knew it was detrimental to his health that they stop so he could get to work. Pepper knew just in the way he kissed her that she was going to have to be the one to break their kiss. She broke away reluctantly and slowly pulled back allowing him one last chaste kiss. "Tony you have to work." She said smiling.

"Can't we wait until tomorrow?"

"Tony by what you've told me, you could potentially die tomorrow. You need to start now."

"Why do you have to be right?"

"I'll keep coming in to check on you, I promise, so im going to go upstairs and work, and you stay down here and work. Besides, you have Dummy, Butterfingers, and JARVIS to help you."

"Fine. But you being here would be more helpful than having Dummy." Pepper laughed and kissed his cheek before walking away.

"JARVIS."

"Yes MS. Potts?"

"Let me know when he starts slacking."

"Of course Ms. Potts." JARVIS responded.

Tony watched her walk away and smiled uncontrollably. "Who did I program you to listen to JARVIS?" he asked defensively returning to the demeanor everyone knew him for. Pepper could only laugh as she shut the door behind her and began her ascent of the stairs.

**Thanks all i'll see you whenever im available again, im thinking unfortunately tuesday, wednesday time frame. :(. Lot of A.P. English hw to do, research paper stuff and annotating the book Zeitoun by tuesday, just started today. haha yeah, 318 pages soo you see my dilemma. Oh this will interest you my research paper is... Superheroes have a positive influence on the world. My examples im using are IM, Bats, and Supes. I'm having so much fun doing it. Please be sure to drop me a review pretty please, alright, Lilia is out, peace.**

**p.s. peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy. (yes i went there)**


	3. Starkonium

**Hello all i know i said i wouldn't be able to be back until tomorrow or wednesday but let's just say a homework assignment took second seat to get this done. yeah that's the watered down version. Also if you didn't know the official Iron Man 3 trailer is being released October 23 12:01 am so for some of you yes that's tonight and others, yes it's now up. So pretty lengthy chapter but really it has a whole bunch of the action. Also i think we're looking at two more chapters before we finish and move on to the story. So please read, review, and enjoy. To those of you i have been pming with i'd like to say it's been fun and a certain reader will understand when i say this but you've all just been punched by a rainbow.**

Chapter 3: Starkonium

"Here we go JARVIS." Tony said after the last box of coils for the particle accelerator was wheeled into his shop.

"Estimated renovation time is six hours and forty seven minutes."

"Let's get to work." He said putting on his safety glasses and grabbing the sledge hammer. Tony walked over to the wall hitting the hammer against his hand once before using all of his momentum and slamming it in the area he had previously marked off with yellow paint marker. He repeatedly hit the spot until finally the right sized hole appeared and he stepped back dropping the hammer to catch his breath. He hadn't calculated just how much energy would be used up doing it. Tony picked the sledge hammer back up and took it to the other side of the room where he created another hole in the wall to put the coil. "That wasn't so hard. Now onto the electrical stuff. JARVIS, where is the jack hammer?"

"In the third crate by your desk."

He walked over to his desk and dug through the stuff piled on his desk, not realizing he had put his goodbye letter to Pepper on top, until he found the crowbar he needed to pry open the crate. After a minute of prying the lid popped off and he sorted through all the ropes and cables he had ordered until he reached the target of his inquiry. Tony hefted it up over one shoulder and walked over to the elevator ringing him up a level. As he walked out he noticed Pepper was sitting at the table with her laptop on her knees.

"Hey Pep!" he said with a cheerful gleam in his eye upon seeing her. Pepper turned round to face him and confusion was immediately written on her face.

"Why do you have-"

"a jack hammer? That's what I was just about to talk to you about. I have to break through the floor to get to the electrical panel and redirect all the power to the particle accelerator. So it's going to get a little loud for about ten-ish minutes."

Pepper folded up her laptop and walked over to him and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. "Don't break the house." She whispered playfully before walking off into the other room. Tony smiled momentarily until he lost sight of her and then his full focus was back on the task at hand.

"JARVIS how far down is the panel?"

"Four inches sir."

"Keep me posted." He said going over to where an outlined yellow box stood out on the floor. Tony flipped on the jack hammer after lining it up and began to press down on the hammer as the vibrations threatened to overpower him.

"Three inches." JARVIS said after three minutes as passed. More time passed as Tony mustered all his strength to stay in control of the hammer. "Two inches." Another excruciatingly exhausting two minutes passed and the Al sounded again. "One inch remaining sir." "Half an inch." He came on again in half the time. Tony shut off the hammer and picked up the ice pick that lay beside him to break the remaining half inch. He hefted the pick bringing it down and cracking the concrete before the panel was finally revealed after five minutes. Tony removed his shirt and used it to clear the debris off of the panel. After all the debris was pushed off to the side Tony stood up to look at his work and wiped the sweat droplets on his forehead.

"Now for the fun part." He began to descend down the stairs and entered in his password into the digital pad before it clicked open. Tony walked over to the toolbox sitting on his work bench and put in all the tools he would need to re direct the power and open the panel. He grabbed out all of the electrical cables and threw them over his shoulder as his hand held the toolbox. "Let's go Dummy, get in I'm going to need your help. JARVIS watch Butterfingers; make sure he doesn't touch anything."

"Of course sir."

Dummy rolled into the elevator and the doors closed behind them beginning the ascent up to the main level. Tony pried open the panel and took the cabled he had brought and began to attach them to their corresponding places on the box.

"Dummy hand me the vice grips." Tony said holding out his hand. Dummy placed a tool in his hand and when Tony went to use the tool he sighed exasperatedly. "These are needle nose pliers not vice grips." He said discarding the unwanted tool and mumbling, "Be better as a wine rack." Dummy didn't hear and placed another tool in his hand. This time Tony was satisfied.

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When Pepper walked in with a box of mushroom pizza from Ernesto's for them to share, Tony was drilling a hole in the floor over his shop.

"TONY!" she tried yelling over the jack hammer. Luckily Tony had just finished and turned it off the moment she began to shout his name. Tony glanced at her with a smirk and removed the safety goggles from his face and walked over to her in his tank top lined with sweat, his face red, hot and sweaty, and his hair plastered to his face. The arc reactor illuminated through the tank top and to Pepper for some reason even though she found it revolting she also found him to be very sexy.

"What's up?" Tony asked as he reached her.

"I brought us dinner."

"Dinner?" Tony asked genuinely taken aback. "What time is it?"

"Tony, it's seven thirty."

"Oh, I'm not hungry." He said dismissively wanting to continue working on the accelerator.

"You're eating, let's go." Pepper said commandingly taking his hand and dragging him to the kitchen island where they sat together.

"Thanks Pepper." He said softly after taking a bite of pizza.

"For not letting you die of starvation?"

"No. well yes but no. I mean, what I'm trying to say is thank you, for not giving up on me throughout the past decade." He replied flustered.

"I'll always be here Tony." Pepper returned with a soft smile.

"I'm almost done." He said a bit more cheerfully. "I was just about to send some ropes down and then start assembling the coils. Then all that's left is to power it up and hope it works." He said. Pepper picked up on the underlying tone of doubt in his statement and countered it.

"It'll work Tony."

"How do you know?" he asked, and the look in his eyes showed Pepper he was being open in this moment and allowing himself to be vulnerable with her.

"Because I know you Tony." She replied with a soft kiss to his lips. Tony found solace, comfort, and encouragement in her kiss but more so he found hope, deep love, and the will to keep going. He couldn't leave her now, not like this, not when everything had finally fallen into place. _At least she has the letter._ Tony thought sadly then immediately as fast as he thought it pushed any though of death from his mind. Defeat was no longer an option. He would finish building the accelerator and he would do it for Pepper, for them. She was all the motivation he needed and when he finished his meal with Pepper he continued on and threw down the ropes and began taking out each coil one by one with a grunt. And as another two hours passed by he continued to assemble the coils and tighten every last bolt and propping it up with the help of his things around the shop along with Dummy and Butterfingers. He felt as though he was now on auto pilot and it wasn't until he heard a code being entered and the unsealing of his door that he came out of the zone.

"Just a few more minutes Pepper." He said his back turned in the process of tightening a bolt.

"I heard you broke the perimeter."

Tony sighed upon hearing the voice that belonged to Agent Phil Coulson. He wanted to hear Pepper's voice now, not Coulson's.

And so Tony help up the façade everyone knew him for and played along with Phil. "Uh yeah that was like three years ago, where you been?" Tony asked finishing with the bolt and grabbing the level to make sure the two coils were flush.

"I was doing some stuff."

"Yeah, so was I and it worked. Hey I'm playing for the home team now Coulson." He said placing the level on a coil and frowning as he took note of the half inch it was angled. "You and all your fabulous furry freak brothers now are you gonna let me work or bust my balls?" Tony grabbed the blue bag of parts hoping to find what he needed to make it level.

Tony pulled out an attachment piece as Phil turned around and questioned, "What's this doing here?" Tony turned around to see what Phil was holding and when he laid his eyes on it the wheels turned in his head and calculations were formed and solved in a matter of seconds.

"That's it. Bring that to me." He said reaching out for the shield.

"You know what this is?"

"It's exactly what I need to make this work." Tony took the shield and turned it over pleased that he had found what he needed and said, "Lift the coil. Go, go put your knees in it. There you go." Tony slid the shield underneath. "And drop it." He reached behind and grabbed the level putting it on the coil once more and observing it's levels. "Perfectly level." He said in content. "I'm busy what do you want?"

"Nothing. Goodbye. I've been re assigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico."

"Fantastic, Land of Enchantment."

"So I'm told."

"Secret stuff?"

"Something like that."

"Hmm." Tony replied with a small laugh.

"Good luck."

"Bye." Phil reached out his hand and Tony shook it.

"We need you."

"More than you know."

"Not that much." Phil walked out to be replaced by Pepper.

"What was that all about?" She asked curiosly padding into his office now wearing a pair of denim short shorts and his Black Sabbath T shirt her feet bare.

"Land of Enchamntment."

"oh." She said.

"Pepper." Tony said reverting back to the person he only let Pepper see.

"Tony." She said with a gentle smile.

"I'm almost done, I'm almost there."

Pepper's heart leapt with joy and pounded in her chest.

"I'm about to synthesize it now."

"Can I watch?"

"Sure, just stay behind me so you don't get hurt."

"You did it Tony." She said with a smile plastered on her face.

"Not yet I haven't, besides it was all you."

Pepper smiled and ushered him to finish. He walked over to his work bench throwing on goggles and hefting a giant wrench over his shoulder a triangular prism in his hand. Tony popped the prism into place and bent down to eye level to assure it was lined up properly with the triangular piece of metal that would be essentially, containing the element he synthesized and replacing the palladium poisoning his blood. Tony shot a quick smile to Pepper and grabbed the ignition key turning the device on.

"Stay back Pepper." Tony warned as al the power from the house was diverted to the accelerator.

"Initializing prismatic accelerator." JARVIS announced. Tony took off his shirt and tossed it aside walking over to the wheel of the prism that would be shooting the energy into the chest piece. Tony placed his hands on it as it began to violently shake and he realized he need the wrench to adjust the prism wheel.

Pepper's heart began to beat faster as JARVIS' voice boomed again, "Approaching maximum power." As a beam of energy shot out and began to cut the wall Pepper shrieked a little but Tony remained unfazed and continued to pull the wheel harder in order to adjust the beam where he needed it.

"whoop." He said as it began to cut through a column. As the beam began to approach the console Tony's heart began to beat with anticipation and prayed this wouldn't blow up in his face because this was his only chance to save himself. There was no room for failure and no time for a redo. The beam finally reached the metal and a small ding resounded. The energy collecting in the small metal began to whir and hum growing louder with each passing second, and when the light began to blind to blind both Tony and Pepper, Tony quickly reached over and shut it off before all the energy could create a nuclear bomb. The light began to slink back until only the chest piece was illuminating the room. "That was easy." He muttered ducking under the coils. Tony approached the element pulling up a chair and tilted his head to observe it. He grabbed a metal, magnetic sodering point and picked up the element to get a closer look.

"Congratulations sir, you have created a new element." Tony was captured by the small piece that would save his life and give him a shot to be happy with Pepper. Tony put the new piece in the arc reactor he had created in between renovations and watched as it was swallowed by the core. The arc reactor began to beep slowly at first and the increasingly faster until it beat as one. "Sir the reactor has accepted the modified core. I will begin running diagnostics."

Tony continued to look at it and once satisfied stood up with a smile and walked over to where Pepper was waiting for him. He saw the smile that consumed her features and the happy tears streaming down her face.

"You did it Tony." She said meeting his gaze.

"We did it Pep, together. I couldn't have done this without the motivation you gave me." Pepper laughed deliriously and wrapped her arms around his neck engulfing him in a deep, longing, passionate kiss that Tony felt obliged to return when he too wanted the same thing. "I know what we can spend the rest of the night doing." Tony said softly and sweetly.

"I couldn't agree more." Pepper said as she me his eyes. "Make love to me Tony." She said.

Tony answered her request through his actions and decided to take the elevator so he knew they would actually make it to the bed where he would spend the rest of the night showing Pepper how much he truly cared for her and for the first time, not just having meaningless sex because Pepper was so much more than just another woman. She was all he needed and all he had.

**So thanks for reading review por favor. You've just been caught by NCISVILLE, bam! lol. one of you will understand. See ya next time. Spoiler alert, there is Pepperony in the next chapter.**


	4. The Letter

**Hey Guys so this is the shortest of all of them but i did get it to you a day after the other chapter so i hope that counts for something. The last chapter is going to be the longest of all and chapter three was nearly 3,000 words so the last one is a beast! My work load has gone from overwhelming to underwhelming in twenty four hours. so yay me! Thank you to my last guest who reviewed for reviewing so glad you're liking this. **

**So guys enjoy this next chapter while you wait for the mammoth, we are one step closer to the initialization of Fear!**

Chapter 4: The Letter

"Don't go Pepper." Tony begged.

"As CEO I have to show up at the Stark Expo." A look Pepper had never seen before morphed onto his face and he had the most adorable, heart breaking, sad puppy dog look. "You could never do that before we slept together! God what did I do to you?" Pepper asked appalled at how that face nearly made her change her mind right on the spot. If he kept on doing that she was going to break.

"Please Pepper." He said sadly still begging with his eyes. Pepper knew she was about to break but luckily for her Happy chose that moment to walk in on them.

"The car is ready boss." Happy announced as he walked in.

Pepper turned to Happy and thanked telepathically. She cleared her throat and responded, "Thanks Happy, I'll be put in a minute." Happy nodded and began walking away leaving them alone once more. Tony's puppy dog face was still there but had decreased overly in intensity and Pepper could handle that. "I'll be back tomorrow morning after the board of directors meeting at nine."

Tony looked to the woman he loved sadly pouting. "I miss you already."

"I haven't left yet."

"See, I'm going to be so lonely without you." Pepper smiled and kissed him sweetly, lingering for a moment before saying, "You'll have JARVIS."

"Bye Pepper." He called sadly as she began to leave.

"Bye Tony." She called out and then sound that soon followed was the shutting of a door and Tony sighed. Already his heart felt as though a piece of him was missing; a piece that had been found hours ago in bed. He sulked down to his workshop and sat at his desk.

"How is the new chest piece JARVIS?"

"All tests have come back positively so far sir. The new element will be able to sustain you and serve as a compatible source for the next few centuries. It will also rid your system completely of the palladium. "

Tony was instantly reminded of the blood poisoning and said, "Check palladium levels JARVIS."

"Blood toxicity, ninety-eight percent and climbing."

"How much longer until all diagnostics are completed?"

"Twelve hours."

"How much longer before I die?"

"Sixteen hours."

"So at least I won't have to give Pepper her letter." Tony said with relief as he looked onto his desk where the letter had been a day ago but panic slowly began to rise. Tony shuffled through all the papers on his desk scattering them onto the floor in desperate search for the letter. He searched vigorously throughout the drawers of his desk but still came up empty handed. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose muttering, "Pepper."

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She wasn't sure if she should open up the envelope and read what was inside. It had been siting like a hot potato in her purse throughout the whole flight. Now she was sitting on her bed at the hotel suite with it sitting in her hands. The curiosity of it all finally got to her and she tore open the brown envelope. Her eyes skimmed over the words at first glance but she stopped herself and forced her eyes to start with the first line written. She took in his hand writing and then began to read.

'_I wasn't sure what to write or what to say but I know it needs to be said. For nearly twelve years you've taken care of me and stood by my side and you've become more than just my personal assistant, you became my friend. Now that I'm gone I want you to know that there was nothing you could have done. The palladium within the arc reactor began to poison my blood and I didn't want to put that burden on your shoulders so I lied by omission. I never told you I was sorry but I truly am sorry for everything I've put you through over the years. The one thing though that I regret the most is not having the courage to tell you this and to be there to see your reaction. The truth is Pepper, I love you. I think maybe I always have on some level in my own strange way but when I saw your face, looking at me, as I walked off that plane from being rescued, that's when I finally began to realize that I loved you. I am sorry for not being courageous enough the one time it counted I hope you'll forgive me. I want you to know that my heart belongs to you so as per my will you get the arc reactor so you'll remember that my heart will forever be in your hands. Thank you Pep for staying by my side and keeping me on my feet, not on my knees._

_Forever and Always Yours,_

_Tony'_

Pepper noticed as she got to the end that it had become increasingly harder to read as her hand began to shake and tears began to cloud her eyes. The tears that had once been at bay were now warming her cheeks. There was a knock at the door and Pepper quickly looked away wiping her eyes and cheeks where the tears began to stain.

"Come in." she said evenly stuffing the letter and envelope underneath her pillow.

"Ms. Potts, it's time to leave for the Expo."

"Thank you Natalie." Pepper replied gathering herself and standing up to follow Natalie after briefly glancing back to her pillow where her remembrance of Tony burned through the sheets.

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**Thanks for reading guys and following and favoriting, be sure if you like this story to check out my others if you haven't done so already and please drop me a line. i love having conversations with you all, so fun. Thanks again see you next time. The next chapter is entitled: Blueberries. ;).**


	5. Blueberries

**Hello all readers and just curious people joining us for the first time. I do thank you for all your favorites follows, and reviews. Boy did those reviews light up my world and help me guage where this story is among all my others. It seems as though this and my From the Roof To The Room are neck and neck for first. So thanks guys for all your support. So as said i am getting this to you before Hurricane Sandy hits me later tonight so if i lose power at least yall with have this. Enjoy this final chapter.**

Chapter 5: Blueberries

"Hey Dummy, you, can we clean up this mess. You're killing me you know I don't-"

"Incoming call with a blocked number sir."

"Phone privileges reinstated." Tony commented surprised as he turned around in his chair. "Lovely. Coulson, how's land of enchantment?" he asked sarcastically.

"Heeyy. Tony." Tony froze instantly recognizing that accented voice. "How you doin? Haha. I Double cycle."

"You what?" Tony asked still not comprehending how a dead man was speaking to him.

"You told me double cycle more power. Good advice."

"You sound pretty sprightly for a dead guy."

"You too."

Tony closed his eyes as Ivan laughed and hit the mute button on screen. "Trace him." He said to JARVIS.

"Sir."

"Now the true history of Stark name will be written."

"JARVIS where is he?"

"Accessing the Oracle grid. Eastern Seaboard."

"What your father did to my family forty years, I will do to you in forty minutes."

"Sounds good let's get together and hash it out." Tony replied in a deathly calm voice.

"Tri-state area. Manhattan and outlying boroughs." JARVIS said narrowing down his location even more.

"I hope you're ready."

The line disconnected and all Tony could hear was static. He looked to his computer hopefully, hoping that JARVIS had finished the trace. "Call trace incomplete." Tony looked from computer screen to computer screen hoping one of them would tell where in Manhattan, Ivan was hiding. That's when his eyes landed on a picture of the snake himself, Justin Hammer. Everything began to fit itself together as old information became clear with new information that flooded into his brain. His eyes were then drawn to the chest piece knowing that was the only way he could put on the suit and save Pepper. Tony quickly grabbed the reactor with one hand and took out the old one with the other tossing it aside. He tightened in the new reactor and heard JARVIS' cry of protest.

"Sir."

Tony hit the reactor in for good measure, and said already feeling drained of energy, "You wanna run some tests, run em. And assemble the suit while you're at it. Put it together now." Tony heaved for breath as he began to feel the effects the new chest piece was having.

"We are unclear as to the effects-"

"I don't want to hear it JARVIS." Tony cleared his throat as he heard the reactor begin to resonate loudly indicating it was at work clearing out the palladium from his system. "Ugh. Tastes like coconut…and metal." He said in a low gravelly voice as new energy surged through him. "Oh wow…yeah!" The room was filled with a bright blue light as the Starkonium began to take full effect within Tony's body. Tony stepped onto the platform where the Mark V was waiting and stepped into it as the alloy began to fasten all around him until the face mask slid shut. "JARVIS, set destination for the Stark Expo."

"Estimated time of arrival, forty seven minutes."

"It's fly time." Tony said as he launched up and shot through the tunnel leading out of the mansion. "Let's go supersonic JARVIS."

"Directing power source to the thrusters."

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Pepper stepped out of the car with Natalie and heard Happy say over the announcer, "I'll keep the car running."

"Thank you Happy." She replied half into the conversation. Her mind was focused only on Tony's words and the feeling she got when she had kissed him. Pepper ascended the stairs with Natalie and was stopped several times on the way to her seat by board members and interested future clients. Pepper kept up easily enough with the business talk, happy with the short impromptu distractions but as she began walking again all she could bring her mind back to once more was Tony and memories of the previous night consumed her. She could suddenly smell Tony and remember his light touch. She could feel all of the emotions he had poured out to her and while it warmed her heart it also made it ache with longing for more of him, her missing puzzle piece. As Pepper took her seat with Natalie she made sure she looked calm, cool, and collected, and professional. A few more military officers came up and talked to her and she morphed each time into Business Pepper as soon as each rolled around. Pepper looked at her watch as the latest set of Marines left. Seven p.m. Music began to play and that's when Pepper knew it was finally starting. She looked around until she saw Justin Hammer begin to dance out on stage toward the podium. _'What the hell is he doing?',_ She asked herself as her face scrunched up in disgust.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about." Pronounced Hammer loud and proud. "Thanks for coming." Claps resonated scattered around the pavilion until Hammer began talking. "Ladies and Gentleman, for far too long this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way. But then the Iron Man arrived and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair, that's not right, and it's just too bad."

"Oh Lord." Pepper said under her breath with a roll of her eyes. He was going to bring Tony into his case and try and bury him six feet under in order to raise himself six feet up onto a thrown.

"Regardless it was an impressive innovation, one that captured the world over. Well today my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem, they are about to run out of ink." Justin said with a proud, sly smile. Few people clapped and Pepper was more than a little confused at what Hammer was trying to play at. Two women came rushing up and grabbed the podium. "Get that out of here." He cleared his throat and looked out at the crowd with a smile gathering on his face, hands on his hips. "Ladies and Gentleman, today I present to you the new face of the United States Military! The Hammer Drone!" Justin turned around and pointed to where the floor was beginning to move and a platform began to rise up and take its' place with Army music playing in the background. "ARMY!" As the drones began to rise, Pepper couldn't stop the gasp that escaped. The drones mimicked the structure of the Mark suits Tony had created. "NAVY!" The music changed each time a new set of drones rose to match the branch of the military that was being presented. "AIR FORCE!" Pepper couldn't help the bile that rose in her mouth as she thought of the dual purpose Hammer would use the drones for. Tony's worst nightmare was coming true, the suits he created were going to be used in the hands of a madman. "MARINES!" Endless clapping filled the pavilion and Justin turned around back to the crowd arms held high basking in the glory of his accomplishment. "Yeah! Yeah! Woo! That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell ya. But as revolutionary as this technology is, it will always be required for man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and Gentleman today I am proud to present the first prototype in the variable threat response battle suit and its' pilot Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!" Hammer backed up and stuck out his hand palm side up pointing to where Rhodey began to rise on a platform.

"What?!" Pepper said confused at what was going on. Why would Rhodey help Hammer?" More applause filled the air as War Machine rose up. Rhodey saluted and all the drones followed suit. Hammer saluted as well and Pepper couldn't hold back her disgust. The man didn't care about protecting lives, he cared about getting in bed with the government.

"For America and all its' allies Hammer industries is reporting for-" Pepper heard behind her what sounded like jet or rocket engines and a knowing smile appeared on her face for a second before she realized Tony wasn't supposed to be there. He entered in as Tony always would and as he landed everyone around her stood up and screamed in applause at seeing their hero, Iron Man. She watched curiously as Tony walked up to Rhodey and put his arm around his shoulder waving up to the crowd.

"What are you up to Tony?" She asked unable to come up with a reason why he would be there and nothing came to mind but she knew he had to be there for a good reason to drag him from Malibu all the way to New York.

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Pepper stood there on the steps of the outskirts of the pavilion next to one of the drones that had wrecked so much havoc on New York, waiting for Happy to arrive and pick her up. She took out her cell phone and began dialing Happy when she heard a shrill beeping. Pepper curiously looked around for the sound her phone, lowering the phone from her ear as she focused on the sound. She saw the center of the drone beeping red and thought, '_what the hell?'_ Her head tilted curiously as her mind tried to conjure up an explanation. Then it dawned on her and she looked around to run away when she saw Tony come speeding toward her and squealed as he landed in the next second wrapping his arms around her and blasting them up into the sky in the following millisecond. They were up fifty feet as the drone exploded into flames taking everything around it in flames. She was still in shock when they landed, and pushed on his chest to get away from him.

The wiring in his suit began to spark and Tony twitched trying to remove his helmet making small grunts as the sparks hit him. Pepper was gasping for breath when he removed the helmet and looked over the suit assessing it for damages.

"Oh my God, I can't take this anymore Tony."

"You can't?" He asked incredulous.

"I can't take this."

"What do you mean? Look at me!" he cried defensively.

"My body, literally, cannot handle the stress. I never know if you're going to kill yourself or or or wreck the whole company."

"I just, I think I did okay Pep."

"I I I quit. I'm resigning. That's it."

"What did you just say? You're done? With us? That's surprising. No, it's not surprising. I get it."

"Wait what? With us? I'm not, ha ha I'm not breaking up with you, I'm quitting as CEO." She corrected amused.

"You're not?" he asked both sounding and feeling relived.

"No."

"Because if you are you don't have to make any excuses."

"I'm not making any excuses."

"Well you actually were but you don't have too."

"No I wasn't making any excuses."she said adamantly, still trying to reasurre him she wasn't talking about quitting on them.

"Listen, Hey hey hey; you deserve better."

"But-"

Tony cut her off again not letting her interject. "You've takne such good care of me. I've been in a tough spot and you got me through it. So, right."

"For a genius you're incredibly, unbelievably stupid." She said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not quitting on us, I'm resigning as CEO of Stark Industries you dummy. I could never give up on this, not when I love you."

Tony looked pleasantly taken aback by the confession and a smile appeared. "You read the letter."

"I may have glanced at it." She said with a returning smile. "I love you Tony."

"I love you too Pep." He said then paused and looked at her questioningly.

"What?"

"Weird."

"No, it's not weird." She said with a reassuring smile and a kiss. Tony smiled and accepted the display of affection.

"It's okay right?"

"Yeah."

"Run that by me again."

She smiled about to tell him again when they both heard a voice say, "I think it's weird. Ylou guys look like two seals fighting over a grape." Rhodey commented unable to bear more of their goo goo eyes and kissing.

"I had just quit actually so we're not um." Pepper stumbled and Tony couldn't speak.

"You you don't have to do that, I heard the whole thing." He said watching as Tony wrapped his arm around Pepper.

"You should get lost."

"I was here first, get a roof." Rhodey retorted defensively.

"I thought you were out of one- liners?"

"That was the last one."

"You kicked ass back there by the way."

"Thanks you too. Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a bit longer."

"mmm not okay."

"Wasn't a question." Rhodey said taking off.

"How you gonna resign? I don't accept." Tony said turning his full attention back to Pepper and intertwined their fingers.

Pepper just laughed and said happily, "I love you Tony."

"I love you too." He replied with a smile. "Let's go home."

"Tony, my stuff is at the hotel."

"Okay, fine then, we'll just stay at the hotel I mean I normally don't-"

Pepper smiled and teased, "Who said you get to stay and sleep in the bed?"

"Who said anything about needing a bed?" he countered with a sly smile.

Pepper kissed him but pulled back before he could start anything and said, "I'm going back to the hotel now and you're going home."

Tony gave her a puppy dog look and said, "But my home is wherever you are, besides I'd be lonely."

Pepper's heart melted but she remained resolved and said, "You'll have JARVIS. I still have a meeting tomorrow so I'll see you again tomorrow morning when you pick me up from the airport at two."

"Fine." He said reluctantly. "I'll drop you off at the hotel entrance."

Pepper kissed him before Tony put his helmet back on and whispered once more into his ear, "I'll always love you Anthony Stark."

Tony smiled and put on his helmet activating his thrusters a moment later. "Hang on Pepper." Tony flew her the few miles to the hotel and landed by the front door setting her down.

"I'll see you tomorrow Tony."

"By Pepper, I love you." He called out as she walked away.

Pepper smiled back warmly and walked through the doors to be greeted back to the hotel. "Welcome back Ms. Potts."

"Thank you Bobby." She said turning back around in time to see Tony catch her eye before blasting off in the direction of Malibu. As she walked into her room she saw a bowl of blueberries and took a handful.

"Better alternative to strawberries than peaches." She said with a smile thinking back to when Tony had brought her strawberries.

**Okay everyone that's a wrap! wooo yeah. Now all the actors get a break and the producers and directors already start collaborating on the next movie. lol sorry, i was watching Iron Man behind the scenes. Anyways thank you so much for all your help and for making this story successful. Be sure to read the actually story that follows this where all my creativity is really released. I will admit i've been writing a scene that i didn't think too much about but i am just loving writing it. It's so fun, so stay alert for Fear. See yall soon. Be sure to drp me a review to tell me what you though of this whole thing, complaints, comments, compliments, just your thoughts on a prequel here at Fan Fiction. Thanks! **


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